Some interesting comments:
Everything seems so measured and thought out when he speaks. I’m going to miss his calming presence.
This post is in: Black Jimmy Carter
Some interesting comments:
Everything seems so measured and thought out when he speaks. I’m going to miss his calming presence.
Comments are closed.
Corner Stone
Speaking of unmeasured, this ARK v UNC game is going off.
lamh36
The “No Drama” Obama marker was really on point in regards to POTUS. Gonna be interesting after he leaves.
Both in terms of “no drama” mentality, but also cause I suspect the next President and administration, will more likely than not won’t be as social media saavy as this POTUS and administration, nor as willing to go “outside the beltway” and circumvent traditional WHPC and news nets. Didn’t just last week he sat down for an interview with VICE news?
We’ll see what happens with the next administration.
Corner Stone
Down goes Nova! Down goes Nova!
tybee
@lamh36:
the next administration cannot be as smooth as the O man has been. and that’s a damn shame.
jl
@lamh36: I agree. Obama seems measured and thought out because he is measured and thought out.
Except I think Obama was a little too inside some beltways, not media beltway, or political beltway, but macroeconomic beltway. Obama deciding that Geithner was some kind of soulmate, and listening to people like Summers, cost him, I think. Have to admit how much it cost him is unknown, since doubtful he could have gotten what was really needed for a stimulus through Congress. And I do aknowledge that it is unknown how much difference his ‘I told you so’s’ would have been in getting additional stimulus passed. It would have felt good to watch him say that, at least.
I probably sound like a broken record, but the macroeconomic policy failure has caused, and is causing, immense social and political damage here and abroad.
Here is a plan. We tell that damn Krugman to quit wasting time with his time with his ‘strum strum strum’ folk rock kick. Krugman doesn’t need to be on any damn music economics policy panels at South by Southwest. Chuck D would say the same damn things, from what I have seen of him at those confabs.
Tell Krug he will accept next Dem president’s offer to be secretary of Treasury of head of economic advisors and then support any Democrat who will take him. Or maybe DeLong.
Then support any candidate who will take The Krug or DeLong or similar. HRC, O’Malley, Booker… or pitch to Michelle. Biden has indicated that he is liberal enough on some economic issues (don’t want to think about the credit card crap) to take him, but he would not be my first or second choice.
Botsplainer
@Corner Stone:
My brackets – all of them – completely fucked.
Iowa Old Lady
@Corner Stone: I don’t follow bball, but the enthusiasm of this made me smile like it was contagious.
schrodinger's cat
@jl: DeLong was pimping Summers for the job that Yellen finally got. Are sure that he is all that different from Summers.
Bobby B.
Meanwhile let’s all stop thinking about marijuana just like the president advises, because law and order, and racism, just aren’t his problems.
jl
For a little compare and contrast for evaluating ‘measured and thought out’, we have Steve King, on Democratic Jews not being real Jews. This fool started on this yesterday according to TPM and is still at it. Next I suppose he will be raving about Jews with matzos the size of cantaloupes not idolizing Netanyahu enough.
Rep. King Doubles Down On Asking How Jews Can Be Democrats
” I don’t understand how Jews in America can be Democrats first and Jewish second…”
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/steve-king-doubles-down-american-jews
Thought occurred to me that maybe trying to open up some kind of split between Jewish Americans and Democrats was part of the idiot GOP ploy behind inviting Netanyahu to make a campaign appearance in front of Congress, and that the colossal ass, King, is just saying what many other GOPers are thinking.
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: Did you get snow today? It was snowing here yesterday and this morning. I am so over this winter. BTW Happy First Day of Spring.
mai naem mobile
I don’t people realize how quietly competent Obama is and they won’t until.he leaves. He’s not perfect and the admin for sure has.had its fuck ups (healthcare.gov/VA) but Obama’s like a trauma surgeon. Stabilize and work on one thing at a time while keeping eveything going. The Republicans can bitch and moan but I can guarantee you not one of their current wannabe POTUSs would run as clean a ship as Obama’s. The only GOPr I think is.competent.and capable is Huntsman who isn’t even an entrant.
TaMara (BHF)
@efgoldman: If you have peanut butter, egg and 1 cup brown sugar, you got some melt in your mouth cookies….
schrodinger's cat
Double comment, so I deleted it.
Germy Shoemangler
Here’s a comment I saw on another blog (it is wrong on so many levels, so breathtakingly wrong, that I can’t even begin to form a reply):
Like it or not, the surge worked to stabilize Iraq. Obama and his crew knew (or should have known) that withdrawing US forces would precipitate chaos.
Further, one suspects that he knows (or should know) that Iran is a truly destabilizing force throughout the ME. Yet, true to form, this administration continues to act against US interests and stability for the region.
Obama knows that low oil prices have tanked that socialist utopia Venezuela where people now fight for rolls of toilet paper made by its nationalized toilet paper company.
Obama wants to loosen sanctions on Iran because low oil prices are threatening the economic stability of Iran and the political future of the mad mullahs. Obama intentionally or not is simply serving as an agent of Ayatollah Khamenei. He certainly is not serving the interest of the American people.
It is time for many military experts to stand up for America and voice their concerns about his current “policy”.
schrodinger's cat
@Germy Shoemangler: I am reading this right? This idiot wants higher gas prices?
lamh36
OT, Good Lord…damn social media.
Some good people I follow are at the SaturdaySciFi hashtag on twitter are live-tweeting the 80s Robocop and now I watching the ole Robocop.
I’m just now realizing that old dude was the LAPD Captain in Beverly Hills Cop.
It also never cease to amaze me how many naked boobs and cuss words and violent situations there was in 80s movies. And I remember watching many of them as a kid…I would never let Maddie anywhere near these movies nowadays…lol
jl
@schrodinger’s cat: On the stimulus, yes I do remember DeLong being better.
And I don’t think the problem was Summers’ macroeconomic judgment. As I remember it, Summers put his thumb on the scales of Christina Romer’s forecasts for political reasons, not economic reasons.
Summers wrote a paper with DeLong very early after clear that first fiscal stimulus was inadequate, that provided reliable framework for determining when cyclical deficit spending would reduce medium and long run federal deficits. Soon after Summers joined the DeLong/Krugman/Galbraith/Blinder/Solow axis of Keynesians calling for more.
Summers is good on macroeconomics. I think Summers is not good on financial economics, and his judgment too easily corrupted by political considerations. I disagreed with DeLong on Summers, but not because Summers’ macro was bad, but because I thought he would be too influenced by financial interests and it would cloud his sound judgment on macro policy.
I could be wrong, but that is what I think.
Edit: Come to think of it, if her last experience in federal government would not make her throw up at the very thought. Romer would be good heading Council of Economic advisors. Except for imprecise (and for base case, too optimistic) estimates of how bad the initial slide into recession was, remember it was actually worse than the first stages of the Great Depression, Romer’s forecasts were very good.
schrodinger's cat
@TaMara (BHF): I don’t like peanut butter in desserts. Cookies, candies, ice-cream, you name it. The only exception is peanut brittle and crushed peanut chikki, an Indian version of the same.
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: There is snow still in my backyard and the driveway is a slushy, muddy mess.
@jl: I haven’t followed DeLong much but am Krugthulu fan.
Germy Shoemangler
@schrodinger’s cat: I’m suspicious of anyone who says “it’s time for America’s military experts to stand up to Obama.”
yodecat
@TaMara (BHF): you might need some flour.
Botsplainer
Do I do ADHD game watching, or do I focus on the ND game?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Germy Shoemangler: It is time for many military experts to stand up for America
I wonder which experts this (I’m sure) active duty military has in mind: Bill Kristol, who seems to be driving GOP foreign policy again?
Aleta
@TaMara (BHF): that’s all you need?
yodecat
@lamh36: WTF is wrong with boobs naked or otherwise? I think that there’s something wrong with you.
schrodinger's cat
@Germy Shoemangler: Also, the myth that the surge worked needs to die. If it had worked we would not have ISIS. Without the Debaathification carried on by W’s minions, the surge itself would have been unnecessary.
jl
@schrodinger’s cat: Stiglitz would be good too, and he would take the job, and start breaking a lot of BS china in the shop. Which reminds me of Stigltiz’s bias regarding China economy, in which he has an interest because he was one of team that advised on their transition to capitalism. No one is perfect and everyone has flaws and blind spots.
Krugman missed the boat on the macroeconomics of inequality, though admitted it later. I think Krugman was reluctant to apply the sort of disequilibrium dynamics he can do very well in conventional macro to basically similar causal processes wrt to changes in income and wealth distribution and how that changes marginal propensity to consume. Krugman fixated on contrasting to equilibrium states. But what if we are still suffering macro effects of the transition and drop in marginal propensity to consume? Huh, Krug, what about that? And he just loves boring music.
But, hey, look at China versus Russia. With the Dems you get the kind of economists who advised Chinese transition, with the GOP you get the kind of economists who advised the Soviet transition to Russia.
Who do you feel more comfortable with running the economy?
jl
@efgoldman: I don’t care whether Summers’ has a tin ear or perfect pitch with regard to politics. His damn job was to give the president objective economic advice. He did not do that. So, in my book, the guy shouldn’t ever be even the equivalent of the economic village dog catcher ever again. He really blew it.
Germy Shoemangler
@jl: Speaking of Krugman, I remember seeing a profile on him somewhere. Was it 60Minutes? I don’t remember. But according to the interview, Krugman’s wife would read his rather dry columns, and give editorial suggestions. She apparently is a more dynamic writer, who hasn’t gotten credit for opening his mind and editorial style.
Behind every great man is an even greater woman.
Omnes Omnibus
@lamh36: My aunt took me to see the original Dirty Harry movie the summer I turned eight, and I turned out just fine – just fine, I tell ya.
Joel
@lamh36: Ronnie cox is a folk singer now. Look him up.
Botsplainer
@Joel:
Ronny Cox was the dentist in Deliverance as well.
He’s got a nice “supporting role” resume. For somebody who never played a leading man, he was around a lot of big movies and probably collects some nice residuals.
jl
@Germy Shoemangler: Thanks. I did not know that now. She also co-authors his intro textbook. I’ve read some of the chapters Krugman posts, and seems like they have more pep than average economic textbook. That ain’t saying much at all, but an economic text desperately needs every micro-grain of pep it can get.
catclub
@Germy Shoemangler:
This is almost verbatim what the ‘Middle East Expert’ on NPR was saying this morning. Just like we have a hard time remembering what it was like in Feb 2009 with unemployment rising and markets falling. The US population was also having NONE of staying in Iraq indefinitely. No one could have sold that decision. But convenient amnesia is a great thing.
lamh36
@Omnes Omnibus: I was 4-14 in the years of the 80.
I specifically remember watching Porky’s and Bachelor Party some time during that decade.
I’m 38 now and when I went back to watch them, since that time and even I was appalled at the amount of things I would never let my young cousins watch now.
I was fuckin’ hilarious though..
DTOzone
@Germy Shoemangler:
This is like saying killing blood sucking bats would lead to mosquitos.
Yes, duh, removing an occupying force destabilized the country. That would have happened whether it was 2010, 2020 or 2030.
How long should we have occupied the country to prevent chaos? Indefinitely?
patrick II
@Joel:
Ronnie Cox played a pretty nice guitar in “Deliverance” — though he could not keep up with the person he was playing with/against.
Corner Stone
@Germy Shoemangler:
The SURGE worked. That can not be denied.
jl
@DTOzone: Hello… the surge worked to separate Iraq into Shia and Sunni enclaves.
That whole comment posted above is GIGO: Garbage in, garbage out.
Botsplainer
Arkansas/UNC is a crazy awesome game. Nutso pace.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@catclub: Do you remember who it was? Or what program? I’m curious. I’ve heard Danielle Pletka presented as a neutral analyst on NPR. EvenTheLiberalMSNBC has recently been giving airtime to a guy whose name escapes me, but he’s an advocate of boots-on-the-ground, and when I googled him it turned up he was a former contributor to the Weekly Standard
ETA: Pletka was a strong supporter of Iraqi opposition leader, Ahmed Chalabi, even after it emerged he was being investigated by the US authorities as an Iranian spy. Pletka defended Chalabi saying that he had been “shoddily” treated and that CIA and US State Department personnel had been fighting “a rear guard” action against him.[2]
schrodinger's cat
@efgoldman: True that. The Iraqi people have paid a heavy price for W’s folly.
myiq2xu
Put the Koolaid down and step away from the punchbowl!
Botsplainer
They’re going to score over 90 apiece, I think.
raven
@Corner Stone: Yea and if they’d have let us kill another million or so Vietnamese they’d be a tourist destination now.
max
@jl: Edit: Come to think of it, if her last experience in federal government would not make her throw up at the very thought. Romer would be good heading Council of Economic advisors. Except for imprecise (and for base case, too optimistic) estimates of how bad the initial slide into recession was, remember it was actually worse than the first stages of the Great Depression, Romer’s forecasts were very good.
Romer would be good. In fact, Hillary Clinton should bring Romer back and put her in charge of economic policy.
max
[‘There’s not much else to say about it because I’ve already agreed with you jl, starting about 6 years ago.’]
SiubhanDuinne
@Botsplainer:
He played Colonel Kerby in TAPS.
Botsplainer
@SiubhanDuinne:
I was gonna mention that.
TaMara (BHF)
@yodecat: No flour.
@Aleta: Yes, that’s it. Or you can use 1/2 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup brown sugar. maybe a splash of vanilla if you’re feeling creative.
If FYWP doesn’t penalize me for too many links, here’s the recipe: Peanut Butter Cookies
schrodinger's cat
OT: Is there any other magazine with a more supercilious tone, looking down their nose at the great unwashed, than the Economist?
I was just reading an Economist article Britsplaining why the opening rounds of the World Cup Cricket had to go on for so long. Apparently it was to avoid India from being eliminated because they are a “weak” team when they don’t play on the home pitches.
India is in the semifinals and topped its group, but guess who got eliminated in the opening rounds? without even reaching the quarter final stage? Mummy!
aimai
@catclub: Hello–Bush couldn’t ge thte Iraqis to sign on to an agreement for us to stay. And neither could Obama. So we had to go. It had nothing to do with the american people or anything else. We couldn’t get immunity for our soldiers under a new SOFA so we couldn’t risk staying.
max
My main thing is that damn, the job has leeched the guy over six years. Man looks drained. With it but drained.
max
[‘You really need a political soporific, don’t you, Cole?’]
gelfling545
@catclub: and, if I recall correctly, didn’t the Iraqi government inform us that we had overstayed our welcome?
Cervantes
@jl:
When “later”?
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@aimai: @gelfling545: my recollection is that Obama wanted to keep a reserve force but wouldn’t without immunity (that I recall as teh main sticking point). Maliki wanted US troops to stay but couldn’t give an inch because he wanted to preserve his political (and maybe physical?) well-being. Maliki finally undid the Surge altogether by cutting off payments to the Sunnis, I think out of sectarian spite and good old fashioned corruption.
muddy
@TaMara (BHF): I made crackers today to please a friend who doesn’t want to eat gluten. Just ground almonds, ground romano cheese, an egg. Rolled it between parchment very thin, then lifted it by parchment to backing sheet. I score it, then it’s 350* for 10-15 minutes.
Tomorrow I’m going to see if a softer cheese will work, I have some smoked gouda I’d like to try.
John Revolta
@aimai: This. The Iraqis wanted us out, wouldn’t give us immunity from prosecution or protection from the militias who were swearing to attack us. We tried to get them to let us keep some bases in country but they refused. But by all means, let’s pin it on Obama.
AxelFoley
@lamh36: Aye.
jl
@Cervantes: You damn kids today… you spoiled brats really grind my gears…
Here, listen to this for awhile. I’l walk barefoot through the snow to school both ways and go find something.
A Conversation on the Economy with Joe Stiglitz and Paul Krugman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd0Uz__ebzA
I find this youtube amusing… watching two professors get a little edgy sometimes, when they both can’t talk all the time.
coin operated
@aimai: @John Revolta: Yeah, but Obama didn’t lead and make a strong case for us to stay!!!
(actual statement from a wingnut acquaintance of mine)
Cervantes
@schrodinger’s cat:
Speaking of “Britsplaining” (sort of) … I was re-reading (don’t ask) Aurel Stein’s gloss on Kalhana’s Rajatarangini this morning and saw this:
I trust you’re suitably embarrassed.
Cervantes
@jl:
Music to my ears!
jl
@Cervantes:
” When “later”? ”
I guess by April 2014
Paul Krugman: Inequality Actually Bad for Growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRMi8_M681U
Amir Khalid
@schrodinger’s cat:
England has a long tradition of failing at international competition in sports invented by the English. The few exceptions are mythologised out of all proportion to their significance. One example is the time England beat Germany 5-1 in München in a qualifier for the 2002 World Cup. Germany made it to the final of that World Cup; one of the best England sides in recent football history went out in the quarter-finals.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cervantes:
One has read Chuchill’s A History of the English-Speaking Peoples; one isn’t sure that the English are capable of such a division either.*
*Let us not even start on the US.
catclub
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: It was a Yale expert who is also on Bloomberg.
Does that help?
Cervantes
@aimai:
Just curious: What is your take — or anyone else’s — on the ethics of this demand for immunity from prosecution?
PsiFighter37
Even though we’ll miss him, I bet BHO cannot wait until Jan. 20, 2017, when he can stop giving all kinds of fucks. If I were him, I’d go to Hawaii and chill out for a long time before getting back at it.
catclub
The U.S. and its international partners continue nuclear negotiations with Iran. NPR’s Scott Simon speaks to Yale professor Stephen Carter about Iran’s position in the Middle East.
Kay
“And so those experiences, I think, remind you that my job is to keep my eye on the ball and to stay focused on what can we get done every single day to advance the vision and values that brought me here. What can I do to make sure that middle-class families are feeling more secure, that more young people are able to access opportunity, that we are safe, that we are working with our international partners to try to create more order at a time when there’s a lot of chaos? How do we deal with terrorism in a way that’s consistent with our values?”
Good, Economic security is first. I think that’s the central issue for most people. Economic anxiety. It’s perfect for Clinton, too. A Good Fit :)
jl
@Cervantes:
‘ When “later”? ‘
OK, now I thank you for asking. Because it led me to find something SO exciting… Wheeeh!!!
You darn kids, trying to while away a boring Saturday night talking about pop music and action movies with naked boobs and sex and violence.
Well, this is a real treat. Here is Paul Krugman and Anthony Atkinson (probably the world’s leading expert on the statistical analysis and economics of income and wealth inequality) talking about inequality.
After the one hour mark (I apologize for it being so short!) Krugman talks about changes since 2000, particularly changes in labor share of income, that led to his current thinking about the economics of inequality.
Paul Krugman & Tony Atkinson in Conversation | Inequality and Economic Growth
https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_781689&feature=iv&src_vid=3l6E3mUNW70&v=zAFCaDS4a6Q
Amir Khalid
@Cervantes:
As I recall, the US plan was to process criminal complaints against its personnel under its military justice system. Any court proceedings would thus have taken place in the US, and would have been hard for any Iraqi involved to get to. Obviously this would be unacceptable to Iraqi sovereignty.
Amir Khalid
@efgoldman:
I remember that case on Okinawa. As I recall, it was two Marines and a sailor, and the charge was rape of a 12-year-old girl. I think all three were convicted.
Cervantes
@efgoldman:
Here’s how.
There were three of them. They were tried, in Japan, under Japanese law. One pleaded guilty to rape, the others to a lesser charge. They each were sentenced to 7 years in prison (more or less) and all served the full term. A few years later, state-side, one of them raped and killed another young woman and then killed himself.
coin operated
@Cervantes: @Amir Khalid:
This
I did have some fun with my wingnut friends after the SOFA talks fell through. I said “Maybe we should just stay anyway. If Iraqi justice was good enough to hang Saddam…it should be good enough for our soldiers when they get in trouble over there.”
The wingnut response was typical…they wouldn’t *think* of having our soldiers under Iraqi justice.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman:
We were both company grade officers. Details of things like courts martial and SOFAs were far above our pay grades. OTOH I did have the combination to one of my battalion’s NRAS safes.
The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge
@Botsplainer:
No Trekkie will ever forgive Ronnie Cox for playing Captain Jellicoe on that two-parter where he took over the Enterprise and made Counselor Troi wear a standard uniform.
jl
@Cervantes: 35 to 45 minute into the Atkinson Krugman youtube, they discuss the economic history of inequality of long run growth. At 40 minutes, Krugman is explicitly asked about his debate with Stiglitz about role of inequality in slow recovery.
I missed it when I first skipped through. Not sure I really believe Krugman’s story involving debt raios about how he altered his position in debate with Stiglitz. Krugman’s discussion of rapidly changing share of labor income starting around 2000 after the hour mark in the youtube suggests to me that Stiglitz was right and Krugman was wrong (and maybe Krugman knows it, but you… know.. professors and how they are. Krugman’s a pundit, first rule is to never just say your were wrong straight out. You warm up to it, and throw out some chum first, then circle around back to the really crucial points later.)
John Revolta
@Cervantes: Weeellllll, I know it seems a bit dodgy and ripe for abuse but I believe we’ve pretty much always insisted on taking care of these things ourselves.
If for no other reason, the optics of American soldiers being put on trial by a panel of, say, Shi’ite clerics would obviously be a nonstarter for any US administration.
PhilbertDesanex
@Cervantes: I believe we have never ever granted other countries’ local laws over our soldiers, and certainly not in a combat theater. And this was the Status of Forces that Iraq would not agree upon. Whereupon W and Cheney signed an approval for our FULL withdrawal, get this: several days AFTER Obama was elected, rather than defer the negotiations to the new President. But OF COURSE now they bitch. Bastards, all of them.
jl
@PhilbertDesanex:
” Bastards, all of them. ”
Self serving liars, all of them.
Edit: the whole criminal Bush II crew and their dupes blaming Obama for problems in Iraq is like a bunch of delinquent kids playing with matches in the middle of haystack then blaming the fire department when the whole thing burns down. The punks messed it up past the point of no return. Just because there was a period of calm after the ethnic cleansing and partition that occurred during the surge, that doesn’t change the basic history and facts of the matter.
Cervantes
@jl:
Thanks — for posting the three discussions.
rikyrah
@lamh36:
Lamh,
I can’t get into POU. Haven’t since this afternoon. What say you?
rikyrah
Ever know those songs that you realize you listened to, but never really understood until 10-15 years later?
For me, on that list are Send in the Clowns, and Mr. Bojangles. Hearing them as a 20 year old, and then 15 years later, you realize you didn’t understand the songs at all when you were young.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Yeah, I see what you are saying. Back when I was a simple FA officer one of the best soldiers in our battery (company-sized unit of the gunners) was a guy who would willingly carry a 200 lb round on his shoulder (he was built like a bull on steroids) from on gun to another in knee high mud. He never complained about lack of sleep, cold, rain, snow or hard work and was always a fantastic soldier. When we were in a garrison environment, he mugged people for fun. WTF? When he got caught, he just said “Sorry.” He ended up doing 3-5 in Mannheim.
ETA: He had assaulted German locals.
Cervantes
@rikyrah:
Two great songs.
Cervantes
@John Revolta:
@PhilbertDesanex:
And what about American “security contractors,” of whom nowadays there are thousands upon thousands alongside our troops? What is your take on their requiring immunity from prosecution?
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: Age hopefully adds perspective. But this one gutted me even when I was a teen – oh so many years ago.
ETA: As a Chicagoan, you should have some love for Steve.
Corner Stone
Wow! Double dribble by ND!
Omnes Omnibus
@Cervantes: Fuck them. IMO as an ex-soldier.
Corner Stone
Nasty!
JCJ
@Corner Stone:
0.6 to go!
OT!
Cain
@Omnes Omnibus:
My parents took me to see ‘Hair’ and I came out just fine!
rikyrah
@Omnes Omnibus:
Also My Way. Written by Paul Anka…Paul Anka……his family is still getting royalties from it.
lamh36
@rikyrah: I was told maintenance should be up tomorrow, but not sure…
Omnes Omnibus
@rikyrah: My Way doesn’t get me. Sid Vicious’s punk version saved me.
Omnes Omnibus
: @rikyrah: Do you know this one from Chi-town?
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: Amazing game. No fan of ND but they did the damn thing.
JCJ
@efgoldman:
As a long time Purdue fan I hate all things Notre Dame. They deserved the win, but I still loathe them.
Cervantes
@John Revolta:
@PhilbertDesanex:
And yet:
That “He” was, of course, George III and the words are from our very own Declaration of Independence.
rikyrah
@Omnes Omnibus:
I do…LOL
Mike in NC
@Cervantes: All these decades after WW2, nobody seems even remotely concerned about why there are still 50,000 American troops stationed in Japan and Okinawa, to not even mention South Korea.
Omnes Omnibus
@Cervantes: Aha, GIII never got an agreement regarding the status of forces with respect to the colonies. And that was that was rather a bit of sort of disagreement with the British Government or do I have entirely the wrong end of the stick?
Cervantes
@rikyrah:
For what it’s worth, Bill E Pilgrim and I discussed the genesis of that song briefly, starting here.
rikyrah
@efgoldman:
Music publishing is the gravy train of money.
Being a talented writer…..that’s the $$$$$
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I was being rhetorical. Damn it.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: I had rested my hopes on you……
Violet
@Mike in NC: And Germany.
Omnes Omnibus
@efgoldman: Sleep well, old boy.
mai naem mobile
I worked with a lady years ago whose husband was a cowriter of one of Buddy Holly’s popular songs and the story was that her husband still got several thousand dollars royalty annually. I was kind of surprised because I don’t think of Buddy Holly was being that popular anymore and he didn’t have an Elvis Presley or Michael Jackson kind of crazy following.
BBA
@rikyrah: Anka is still alive. 73 years young.
Omnes Omnibus
@mai naem mobile: Buddy Holly was working really innovative shit when he died. He presaged the Beatles and if he had lived, they might well have been funny sounding Holly followers. As opposed to the funny sounding Holly followers that they were.
jl
New Theoretical Perspectives on the Distribution of Income and Wealth Among Individuals
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO8KWTb2iPM
Joseph Stiglitz, Paul Krugman, Duncan Foley, and Branko Milanovic wonk wonk wonk and wonk on inequality.
Basically commenting on and critiquing Pikettty.
Tree With Water
The president response concerning the state of Israel is a measured one, and well taken.
My question is what the hell was Netanyahu thinking when he cut ties with the U.S. in the fashion he did? Why did he do it?
Amir Khalid
@Tree With Water:
I don’t think Bibi was cutting ties with the US, exactly, I think he was cutting them with Obama. They have never quite seen eye-to-eye, those two, and it appears they don’t get on personally. Bibi was betting there was a way to go over Obama’s head and appeal directly to the reflexive American support for Israel. It’s looking like he made the wrong bet.
srv
@The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge: Troi was fat by then.
Ronny Cox performance in 2014.
jl
@Tree With Water: He was afraid he’d lose the election, and his day gig. His day gig may not be as much fun anymore, though. He bought victory at a very high cost.
May have lost easy and automatic US protection against international diplomatic and economic sanctions against Israel.
Had to hollow out political parties to his right (on security), to grab up more share for Likud, he lost room for maneuver in Israeli politics.
Maybe he grabbed up more hard right national security votes for himself but weakened that side of the political spectrum overall in Israel.
Around the world, outside of US GOP loon show, he exposed himself as an unscrupulous liar who will say pretty much anything So, like this was not known? Yes, kind of known, but now, saying he is trustworthy won’t pass the laugh out loud test, which is a loss when he can’t use brute force to get his way.
I hope his new PMship is damn nightmare for him. It would be what he deserves.
Hope Boehner doing a victory tour of Israel does not produce the GOP reverse Midas touch for that country. I’m no fan of the way politics has gone in Israel recently, but no country deserves the be on the receiving end of the GOP reverse Midas touch. Not the US, not Iraq, not Israel, not anyone.
Citizen Alan
@The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge:
And yet, I will always love him for that, because (a) it was the first time Troi looked like a competent and professional member of Starfleet instead of someone who just came from ballroom dance class and didn’t have time to change and (b) she was inexplicably sexier in a uniform than she ever was in dresses specifically cut to show off her bosom. YMMV.
jl
@Amir Khalid: He sure made the wrong bet if the Democrats can hold on to, or regain anything in 2016. If Democrats win presidency, and Senate back in Democratic hands, or even close to it, dealing with US will not be happy fun time for Netanyahu. But I think would be better for Israel than GOP rule, which will go in and make a huge mess beyond Netanyahu’s wildest dreams. The GOP just has that special knack at making big messes, especially ones that just feel great somehow when they are just getting into them.
Tree With Water
@Amir Khalid: He handed the U.S. strategic options that we have too long denied entertaining unilaterally, possessed as we have been by “alliance and auld lang syne”. I’m not complaining, but think it a tad more serious in scale for the state of Israel than being a mere tactical misfire by a single politician.
Citizen Alan
@efgoldman:
I assume it’s because Japan doesn’t maintain an army capable of repelling China or North Korea if either of those nations at some point developed expansionist aims, and so they graciously allow the US to maintain bases their while they divert the funds that would otherwise be spent on national defense to more profitable pursuits.
Citizen Alan
@mai naem mobile:
There’s a story I read recently about how some kid back in the 70’s made a mint because his dad wrote the theme to the film version of MASH and Robert Altman wanted deliberately stupid lyrics as some sort of ironic commentary. The composer either didn’t want to fool with it or else couldn’t come up with anything dumb enough to please Altman, so he fobbed the lyrics off on his then teenaged son who came up with “Suicide Is Painless.” Said son, now grown, still collects on every performance of the song even when the lyrics are not included, including every airing of the TV show which has been in syndication constantly since the early 80’s.
Hal
@rikyrah:
Dolly Parton agrees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Will_Always_Love_You
cckids
@Hal:
I saw an interview with Dolly after Whitney Houston had such a huge hit with “I Will Always Love You”. The dim blonde doing the interview asked Dolly if it didn’t bother her that Houston’s version was so much more popular than her own; Dolly leaned over & patted her arm I said, “honey, haven’t you ever heard of royalties? Whitney can record any song of mine she wants.”
Another Holocene Human
@jl: Summers is objectively The Worst, always has been, long before he failed upwards to be a Friend of Barack. Summers is an animal. In person he talks like Jon Stewart doing Donald Trump, but less articulate.
BillinGlendaleCA
@cckids: That does assume competent management, the converse is Badfinger. They had poor management and got caught up in the breakup of Apple Records, 2 band members ended up hanging themselves.
Another Holocene Human
@lamh36: Kids don’t really “get” the sex stuff in teen and adult oriented media. It certainly doesn’t affect them the way it affects us.
I think the “worst” thing I ever watched as a kid, well, teen, was “My Life As A Dog” because it dealt with the sexuality of pre-teens, which was pretty uncomfortable to watch as with the family! (They showed it uncut on PBS. The good old days.) Of course, srs bsns European movies like that show kids discovering their sexuality because it’s nostalgia pitched to adults. I don’t know what European teens actually watch, probably R rated American movies….
Another Holocene Human
@jl: I can’t see “grind my gears” any longer without hearing it in Peter Griffin’s voice.
Another Holocene Human
@efgoldman:
There was a big hassle in the last few months about a serviceman murdering a transwoman in the Philippines, mass protests.
In Iraq our soldiers tortured, murdered, robbed, raped….
Another Holocene Human
@The Very Reverend Battleaxe of Knowledge: wtf, she looked great in uniform, Romulan uniform to be specific, but still!
BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Holocene Human: We still have bases in the Philippines? I thought were were told to leave 25 years ago, and closed Clark(there was a little thing about a volcano) and Subic Bay.
Another Holocene Human
@Mike in NC: Pretty sure North Korea is doing their bit to keep our soldiers staged in South Korea.
When MIC infrastructure was being dismantled at “The End of History” under Clinton in the 1990s, the NK gov’t decided to start blowing up rockets for attention … didn’t take long for a lot of laid off nerds with security clearances to get rehired.
It paid for my college, so I know that of which I speak.
Another Holocene Human
@srv: The Neckbeard has spoken. Troi fat. Unperson. Hag. Down, boner, down.
Betty Cracker
@cckids: Dolly is no dummy.
Another Holocene Human
@Citizen Alan: Yes!!!!
Seriously, that fucking teal dress/onepiece thing was a FASHION DISASTER.
If you want to get … hrm … looky … there’s some early season episode where Crusher and Troi are in 80s gym leotards doing stretchy whatever while they verbally advance the plot.
Besides, Ilia had sexier bewbs. If you want to get technical.
/wow, this went down into the gutter fast
Another Holocene Human
@BillinGlendaleCA: http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/12/15/us-marine-charged-with-murder-of-filipino-transgender.html
BillinGlendaleCA
@Another Holocene Human: I see. We don’t have any bases in the PI, unlike in ROK and Japan.
srv
@Another Holocene Human: Clearly, real Trekkie’s liked her for her mind, and that uniform got in the way of that.
Compared to Kirk’s babes, STNG came woefully short on the T&A.
But there were three lights.
Hal
@Another Holocene Human: Sirtis talked about her uniform change at DragonCon in 2010.
http://1871atboe.tumblr.com/post/55356481786/marina-sirtis-talks-about-deanna-troi-and-the
also:
Her character was much more capable in the last couple of seasons of TNG, there’s no doubt.
Another Holocene Human
@BillinGlendaleCA: I wasn’t saying we did, just saying we’re still working on those “community relations” with our East Asian allies. And still think our “boys” should evade local justice.
Another Holocene Human
@Hal: ooo, throwing shade on Crusher
I never could stand any of the Crushers … and, eh, wasn’t impressed with McFadden’s acting anyway
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708778/
Bad episode. Bad title. Bad trip. (When I googled it, google suggested “sub rosa worst episode”.)
ps: wil wheaton is okay … now … in the early days of his blog he and his commenters were completely insufferable
Another Holocene Human
Diane Muldaur is AWESOME. Too bad Dr Pulaski had to be a bigoted hardass. Even “Hobgoblin” McCoy didn’t deliberately pronounce Spock’s name wrong or call him a thing. The writers went too far. I think that’s why everyone hates her.
Muldaur was on original series, what a stunner!
Another Holocene Human
IMDB: “Dr. Crusher meets the man in her dead grandmother’s life when she tries to put her affairs in order, whom one of the local people warn her to stay away from by not lighting a candle that has been lit for generations.”
Wait, is this the plot to Rick Santorum’s The Christmas Candle?
Another Holocene Human
Seriously, though, Dr. Pulaski was a total jerk. I just now look back and I’m all Muldaur!! Yippee!! Hate the character. Like that she stood up to Picard, though. He could be a real ass when he was wrong about something. Crusher would be all, “The compassionate choice would be option B,” but then give in. Wow, what an advocate you are.
Damn, I need to get me to some TNGfans livechat or something. Didn’t realize I loved TNG this much.
SRW1
@Germy Shoemangler:
Stupid revisionism.
Bush failed to pressure Maliki into accepting a residual US force in Iraq in the negotiations during the year 2008 because
a) Maliki knew that the presence of US troops was running up against the hard expiration of the UN mandate at the end of 2008, which Russia and China would never allow to be extended, and
b) Maliki knew that the Shia majority in parliament, who had sole Shia control over of the country in plain sight, would never ratify such an agreement.
So Bush relented and signed an agreement to have US troops first withdraw from the Iraqi cities into their bases and then leave the country completely during 2009. After Obama took office in January 2009, the Pentagon was stil dreaming of keeping US bases and 30,000 troops in Iraq, so the Obama administration proposed a (separate) treaty to the Iraqis to that effect. Given that nothing whatsoever had changed in Maliki’s strategic position, there was no reason whatsoever for him to agree to such an agreement and he just stalled until the Obama administration accepted that the wet dreams of the Pentagon were never going to come to fruition.
The withdrawl of US forces from Iraq is fully on the Bush administration. The only way it could have been avoided would have been by not comitting the fuckup of the 2003 invasion in the first place.
Hal
@Another Holocene Human: Sub Rosa. The episode where Picard catches Crusher fingering herself in a chair while making it with an energy ghost.
Matt McIrvin
@jl:
I think that was totally and completely the plan. They’ve been calling liberals the real antisemites for years over Israel, and they started believing their own rhetoric and thought that by sharpening the contradictions they could carve Jews off from the Democratic Party. If it doesn’t work, well, they figure American Jews must just be stupid or self-loathing.
Matt McIrvin
I’ve seen some discussion of Obama’s legacy going on all over the place, and had an interesting argument on Facebook with a liberal who insisted that Obama’s greatest failure was the ACA, because if he had held off on health care entirely, waiting “a few more years” until some future administration would have resulted in a better deal with less likelihood of Republican sabotage.
I don’t know how long “a few more years” is in that context. It seems to me that Democrats aren’t going to control the House of Representatives again until at least 2020, and maybe not in my lifetime. And I don’t see how having nothing in the meantime is better than having the ACA, even if King v. Burwell effectively demolishes it in the states with no state exchanges.
bemused
I’m going to miss Obama’s measured and calm manner too.
A friend recently said she has totally had it with the ridiculous and disgusting Obama bashing as so many of us are. Aside from Obama looking like one of the few adults that have ever been president, I think that after almost 7 years in the WH, it should be obvious that he and Michelle are decent, normal people. I think they are two people who would be fun to meet and spend time with even if they were an anonymous, non-famous couple. There are very few people in politics I would say the same of.
Matt McIrvin
@cckids: Yet another example of Dolly Parton being awesome.
Davis X. Machina
Any mention of the public option?
I didn’t think so….
jonas
@Germy Shoemangler:
The mind reels. So much of the anti-Obama animus out there consists of loopy conspiracy theories so detached from reality, it’s hard to know where to begin pushing back. Death panels, FEMA trailers, missing birth certificates. I would love to ask the person at the other end of this email chain, “yes, Iran is indeed a destabilizing force. Do you know why? Because GEORGE W BUSH TOOK OUT THE ONLY OTHER REGIONAL POWER HOLDING IT IN CHECK! Now Iran got two countries, plus Syria, for the price of one! Heckuva job, Bushie. Not only that, if sanctions get lifted on Iran, as NPR reported the other day, Persian Gulf oil is really going to start flooding the market and who knows how far down things could go. What’s that going to do to Venezuela?
The stupid burns so much, but yet nearly half of the country would nod their head in agreement with this.
Amir Khalid
@Betty Cracker:
I saw on YouTube a video of Dolly at an awards show, introducing a song she had written for Emmylou Harris, To Daddy. Dolly told the audience that she opened a bank account with the royalty cheque from Emmy: “And then, when Whitney Houston did I Will Always Love You, I bought the bank.”
Patrick
@schrodinger’s cat:
I recall getting emails from RWNJ’s complaining about higher gas prices since Obama took over. Now they are complaining that the gas prices under Obama has declined.
What the f*** is wrong with them?
Chris
@Another Holocene Human:
One of the things I’ve always found the most disturbing about the “Support Our Troops” mantra is that it seems to come with an unspoken rule that you should always 1) assume that our troops would never hurt a fly and that any civilian who complains of mistreatment is lying, and 2) if it’s absolutely proven to you that some mistreatment did occur, say you’re sure the soldier must’ve had a good reason and the hajji was asking for it and whose side are you on, anyway?
It’s like the “cop shot a black kid? Black kid must’ve been threatening him!” mentality cranked up to eleven.